John Baron MP presses Minister to encourage all energy suppliers to follow Scottish & Southern Energy’s policy on cheapest tariff information

MP urges Government to congratulate company

During today’s Energy and Climate Change questions in the House of Commons, John Baron MP called for the Government to do more to get energy suppliers to publish cheapest tariff information on all energy bills, to help in the fight against fuel poverty.

The Government has recently compromised and proposed that companies will be obliged to publish this information on annual statements, but this can discriminate against active switchers who may never receive such a statement. However, Scottish and Southern Energy [SSE] is going further than this by proposing to put its standard direct debit tariff on every bill once a customer has been with them for 12 months – this tariff being their cheapest tariff in the vast majority of cases. This would allow customers to compare this tariff with their present one to ensure they were not paying more than they should. John has tabled EDM 1166 [see notes to editors] highlighting the issue.

John said:

“Given the customer confusion caused by over 4,000 different tariffs, will the Minister congratulate SSE on plans to publish its cheapest tariff information on all energy bills, not just on annual statements as proposed by the Government, and will he now encourage other suppliers to follow suit?”

The Minister replied that he had seen encouraging examples of energy companies making their bills clearer, and agreed that suppliers should be encouraged to follow SSE’s example.

Speaking afterwards, John said:

“Latest Government figures show there are around 4 million households in fuel poverty. Congratulations therefore to SSE for breaking ranks with other energy companies by printing its cheapest tariff on all bills so customers can check they are getting the best deal.”

“The Government’s requirement that such information be printed only on an annual statement discriminates against active switchers. The Government should take SSE’s lead and actively oblige all energy companies to follow suit.”